There were 42 higher education institutions which received operating grants from the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA) in 2000, as well as the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, the National Institute of Dramatic Art and the Australian Defence Force Academy. The private Bond University in Queensland also provides teaching at the higher education level.

Apart from the Australian National University and the Australian Maritime College, which are established under Commonwealth legislation, Australian universities operate under State or Territory legislation. However, they are autonomous bodies responsible for their own governance and make their own decisions on allocation of funding, staffing and academic courses.

Staff

Table 10.17 shows that in 2000 there were almost equal proportions of male and female staff in higher education. This has changed somewhat over the last decade - in 1990, 55% of all higher education staff were male.

Higher education staff may be classified as academic or non-academic. In 2000, as in previous years, there were more non-academic than academic staff. The largest numbers of academics were at the lecturer and senior lecturer levels.

While there were more male than female academics in 2000, the proportions were closer than they had been a decade earlier. In 2000, 64% of academics were male, compared to 70% in 1990. Men outnumbered women at all academic levels except 'below lecturer'. Between 1990 and 2000, the proportion who were women increased substantially for all academic levels.

Between 1990 and 2000 the total number of higher education students rose by 69%. Although most higher education students undertake study on a full-time basis, the prevalence of this has declined over the last decade. In 1990, 62% of higher education students were enrolled in full-time study, but by 2000 the equivalent proportion was 59%. This decline is largely due to the increasing proportion of higher education comprising external enrolments (table 10.18).

The basic undergraduate course at most institutions is a bachelor degree of three or four years' duration. At some institutions, courses may also be offered at the diploma or advanced diploma level. Most institutions also offer postgraduate level study. One to two years of full-time postgraduate study are required for a master's degree and three to five years for a doctoral degree. Postgraduate diplomas and certificates are offered in some disciplines. In 2000, 77% of higher education students were enrolled in bachelor courses, with a further 19% enrolled in higher degree and other postgraduate courses (table 10.19).

Higher education institutions offer a great variety of courses embracing such areas as Agriculture, Architecture, Arts, Business, Dentistry, Economics, Education, Engineering, Health, Law, Medicine, Music, Science and Veterinary science. Fields of study with the largest numbers of award course students in 2000 were Business, administration and economics (24%); Arts, humanities and social sciences (22%); and Science (15%).

10.19 HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS, By Level of Course and Field of Study(a)-2000

Field

Postgraduate
degree

’000

Postgraduate
diploma or
equivalent
’000

Bachelor
degree

’000

Diploma and
advanced
diploma
’000

Other
education

’000

Total
courses

’000

Agriculture, animal husbandry

1.3

0.4

7.1

2.3

0.1

11.2

Architecture, building

1.4

1.0

13.0

0.1

—

15.5

Arts, humanities and social sciences

18.9

6.0

141.0

1.8

2.7

170.4

Business, administration, economics

30.0

12.7

136.4

0.4

1.1

180.6

Education

10.9

9.4

51.8

0.8

0.8

73.7

Engineering, surveying

6.0

1.3

42.8

0.6

0.1

50.8

Health

11.6

7.0

60.1

0.9

0.1

79.7

Law, legal studies

2.8

1.4

28.0

4.1

—

36.3

Science

14.4

5.8

93.5

0.8

0.9

115.4

Veterinary science

0.3

—

1.6

—

—

1.9

Total

97.6

45.0

575.3

11.8

5.8

(b)735.5

(a) The data take into account the coding of combined courses to two fields of study. As a consequence, counting both fields of study for combined courses means that the data in the total row may be less than the sum of the data aggregated down each column.(b) Includes students in non-award courses.

Table 10.20 shows higher education students by age group and sex. Although higher education students remain predominantly in the younger age groups, the overall proportion of younger students has declined over the last decade. Some 60% of higher education students in 2000 were less than 25 years old, compared to 62% in 1990.

In 1990, there were more male higher education students aged 20 to 29 years, but by 2000 women outnumbered men in all age groups. The overall proportion of female students in higher education increased from 53% in 1990 to 55% in 2000.